Man who set off late night search found dead on MU campus

Columbia Police have identified the man found dead on campus at 11:45am Saturday as 36-year-old Zane S. Black from Columbia.

ORIGINAL STORY:

Columbia Police say a man found dead on the University of Missouri campus is the same person that set off a late night manhunt in Columbia Friday.

According to a press release, around noon Saturday the University of Missouri Police Department contacted the Columbia Police Department in regard to the person found dead near the Trowbridge Livestock Center on the MU Campus. MU Police say the man is the same person Columbia Police were pursuing as a suspect in a sexually-related crime earlier this month, who may also be a suspect in a series of such crimes over the last year. The man’s identity is not being released until family can be notified. A message sent though the Mizzou Alert system said "the death appears to be a suicide and no signs of foul play are present."

Columbia Police contacted the suspect Friday night after receiving a report from a victim of an incident on May 1st involving a “peeping tom.” Police contacted the suspect who fled into a wooded area NE or Rock Quarry Road, setting off a four hour search that did not result in an arrest.

Columbia Police say they the man was “possibly involved in the burglaries/sexual offenses recently in the 3100 block of East Stadium Boulevard, 4100 block of Lenoir and the 2200 block of Grindstone Parkway as well as the offenses in East Campus/Downtown Area in 2013.” Police say the investigation will continue.

During the search, the man was described as “white, or possibly Middle Eastern male, in his 30s, 6’ to 6’ 2”, with an athletic build. He was last seen wearing a tan cap turned backwards, dark t-shirt and khaki shorts.”